Municipal officials from Smithfield, Middle Smithfield and Lehman townships met late Thursday afternoon at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation offices in Tannersville with representatives from Gov. Ed Rendell's office, PennDOT and various other county- and state-elected officials. According to reports from some of those present, they had a 90-minute roundtable discussion about alternatives to an already partially built project halted by soaring cost overruns.

Phase I was completed last year. Updated figures estimate the 3.5-mile project to reach $200 million.

Chiefs of staffs of state Rep. John Siptroth, D-189, and Sens. Lisa Boscola, D-18, and Lisa Baker, R-20, attended the meeting along with Bob Gress, Monroe County's chief clerk and administrator.

PennDOT and federal officials also toured the area Thursday.

"They told us they were informed by the governor to expedite this (project) as soon as possible," Schaller said. "They said it is a top priority but they can't spend $100 million on a road when there are numerous bridges collapsing so they have to go back to the drawing board for a low-scale and less-expensive approach."

"They established the fact that they are not going to abandon the project but to look at it in a different way, more short term than long term," said Smithfield Board of Supervisors Chairman Brian Barrett. "They said they are not walking away from it but expect to retool the plan."

Municipal officials said they would be updated "on a monthly basis" on the status of the project.

"They heard what we had to say and understood and made a commitment to a new design phase by the end of this year, but we'll see," Schaller said. "I am not a big fan of PennDOT and I'm very frustrated. Even the discussion they're talking about now is three to four years out of any major construction completion. This has been around forever. I would not bet the house on it as well."

Lehman Township Board of Supervisors Chairman John Sivick, who has been in regular touch with PennDOT regarding the Highway 2001 project running through his municipality and the badly rutted stretch near Bushkill Falls Road that was recently repaired, agreed.

"I'm a little disappointed. They didn't tell us anything new. There were no specifics," Sivick said. He is calling for an open-to-the-public meeting at Middle Smithfield's Schoonover Municipal Building to discuss a revised plan. "I would only hope this is not a final decision and that the public would have an opportunity to comment and get involved with the decision-making process based on the money they (PennDOT) put in traffic studies and in the economic outlook."

Part of the letter Sivick has distributed calling for another meeting says, "It is our understanding that PennDOT officials have met with local business owners behind closed doors to discuss the project. The supervisors of these three townships represent approximately 30,000-plus residents who need to be heard."

"Any public meeting, I would be in favor of it," said Barrett, who said he awaits notification of the proposed meeting.

Gress could not be reached for comment on the Thursday meeting.

Schaller said PennDOT has explained to local officials the need to redirect funding across the state into repairing deteriorating bridges, an explanation that took on new weight this week when a 1921 stone bridge in Tobyhanna collapsed.